JARVIS can't keep his mouth shut
by Nutella1234
Summary: Tony Stark hates for other people to see when he's weak. When he gets a fever, JARVIS just can't keep his mouth shut. Can Tony learn to trust his AI's judgement and let other people in?
1. Chapter 1

Tony Stark never liked being bothered when he was working. Perhaps it was because he felt those who bothered him did not truly appreciate his genius. Or maybe because when someone bothered him, he had to stop everything he was doing, losing his train of thought and being pulled out of the zone. Either way, it made him angry. Today was no exception.

"Sir, Bruce requests entry to your lab." JARVIS said.

"Tell him to go away!" Tony quipped from underneath the table. He was rewiring one of the internal computers installed within after it shorted out and electrocuted him. Such an operation required precision and concentration. Exactly what he was lacking.

"Sir, he insists. Fury wants to call a meeting." JARVIS continued.

"Tell him I don't care what Fury wants, I'm busy!"

There was silence from the AI and Tony continued with his work, figuring maybe Bruce had given up. Or at least hoping. Tony decided to have a word with the man afterwards to reinforce the rules in place about bothering him. He took a wire and was carefully attaching it to the computer chip…

The lab intercom cut on suddenly.

"Stark get your ass down to the conference room right now!" Fury's voice rang out.

Tony jumped, jamming the wire into the wrong spot, promptly shocking himself.

"Dammit!" he yelled as he shook his hand which was burning from the current that had just hit it. He slid out from underneath the table and sat up to glare at Fury who was standing right outside the door with a satisfied look on his face. Bruce was behind him, a sheepish grin on his face. Tony sighed, rolling his eyes, and pulled himself up with the side of the table he had been working on. As soon as he got to his feet, a strange dizziness came over him and black spots danced around the edge of his vision. Tony stumbled and caught himself with the table, taking a deep breath as the feeling went away. The intercom cut back on.

"Tony, you alright there?" Fury asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.

Tony looked up with a sarcastic scowl, letting go of the table and making his way to the door.

"Don't get all nice with me now. You may have been better off waking up a sleeping lion than bringing me out of my lab." Tony opened up the glass door, leaving a smudge on the handle from all the dirt on his hands. He frowned and wiped them on his pants. Fury gave him a scrutinizing glare.

"What do you want anyway?" Tony grouched.

"We have a meeting." Fury said.

"Okay, and what is so important about this oh so great 'meeting' I've been hearing about?"

Fury gave him a look that said he should probably shut his mouth.

"It's about the designs for the new helicarrier. As you recall, the last one was…destroyed."

Tony pursed his lips. He did recall. He eyed Bruce, who was shuffling his feet with a guilty look on his face.

"Anyway, do you have the new blueprints?" Fury asked.

"Yeah, I'll just go grab 'em from the back real quick." Tony went back into the lab, opening the door to his blueprint room. He paused when he was out of sight and leaned on the shelf. Something wasn't right. He felt a pang of pain in his chest. Tony looked down. The familiar blue light shone from inside his shirt. He pulled at the shirt's collar and peered down. The arc reactor looked normal; there was no redness around it. His heart felt normal. But he just felt off. Maybe he was imagining things. He pushed back off the shelf and wiped the sweat that had gathered from his forehead.

"Tony?" Fury's voice sounded from behind him.

Tony whipped around.

"Sorry, I just can't remember where…oh, there it is!" He pulled the blueprints from the shelf and thrust them in Fury's hands. "Where's the meeting at?"

Fury just glared at Tony with his one eye.

"Is there something bothering you?" Tony said with a frown, sarcasm heavy in his voice. "'Cause you're bothering me."

"That's what I was going to ask you." Fury said.

"What for? There's nothing wrong with me." Tony walked past the tall man, heading towards the exit where Bruce was hovering. Fury grabbed his shoulder and Tony spun around ready to spit hate. He hated for people to see when he was weak. Especially Fury. They glared at each other before Tony shrugged his shoulder out of Fury's grasp and stepped back some.

"The meeting is in your kitchen, two floors down." Fury said.

"Thank you." Tony said through clenched teeth.

Two hours later Tony was back in his lab. This time, Bruce was in there with him, working on his own project across the room. After finally managing to fix the computer under the table, Tony slid out with a sigh of relief, wiping the sweat from his brow once more. It was seriously hot in there.

"JARVIS, I thought you lowered the temperature two degrees?" He asked the AI as he slid into a conveniently placed chair and took a long drink from his water bottle.

"I did, Sir, twenty minutes ago."

Tony frowned.

"Well I'm roasting in here. Can you lower it another two?"

"Yes, Sir." JARVIS said.

Bruce stopped what he was doing, lifted the welding helmet he had on from his face, and peered over at Tony.

"Are you serious? It's freezing in this place!"

"How are you not sweating?" Tony exclaimed.

JARVIS inconveniently broke into the conversation.

"Perhaps it is due to your elevated core body temperature." The AI suggested, perhaps thinking he was being helpful. Tony cursed under his breath.

"JARVIS, perhaps you should keep your speakers shut. You're being unhelpful." Tony reprimanded.

"I'm sorry, Sir."

Bruce lifted off his helmet and pulled off his gloves, heading to the chair where Tony was sitting. Tony rolled his eyes and spun his chair to the side.

"Oh God, now you've awakened Bruce's other side, the doting mother. I'd rather have the Hulk. JARVIS, you and I need to have a little talk about learning to shut up."

"Maybe you need to have a little talk about learning to speak up. How long have you had a fever?" Bruce asked, placing a hand on Tony's sweaty forehead. Tony unsuccessfully tried swatting him away.

"Stop acting like my mother. There's nothing wrong with me. By the way, what time is it?"

Bruce sighed.

"JARVIS, what's his temperature?"

"One hundred and two point four." The AI answered promptly.

"Fuck you, JARVIS." Tony said.

Bruce raised his eyebrows.

"Well? When did it start?"

Tony rolled his eyes and huffed and puffed dramatically.

"I don't know, like three hours ago or whatever. It doesn't matter, I'll be fine in the morning. It's just a little fever."

"I kind of thought you didn't look well earlier."

"Yeah, well congratulations."

"Come on, Tony, I think you need some rest." Bruce held his hand out to help Tony up. Tony completely ignored it and practically jumped out of his chair. Like before, he stumbled forward, black spots dancing in his line of vision. Fortunately, Bruce grabbed him before he could fall. Taking a few deep breaths, Tony stood carefully, meeting his lab buddy's concerned gaze.

"You never answered me earlier. What time is it?"

"Ten. Now let's get you to your room."

"Yes, mother. Seriously, I can make it to my room by myself."

Bruce let go of him.

"Are you sure about that? You don't seem capable of even standing up."

Tony blatantly ignored him and headed towards the door of the lab.

"Turn the lights out when you're finished here."

Bruce watched as his fellow genius let the door shut behind him.

"JARVIS, will you let me know if his fever starts to rise?"

"Of course." The AI said reassuringly.

Bruce seemed satisfied with this, and turned back to his work, pulling his gloves and helmet back on.

**So, I'm not really sure if I'm going to continue this story...maybe if you guys really want me to I will:p Anyway, thanks for reading!  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, since some of you guys liked it, I managed to continue some:) Here you go, hope you enjoy!**

Bruce was working contentedly in the lab until around eleven fifteen, when JARVIS's voice cut in.

"Sir's temperature has risen to one hundred and three degrees."

Bruce put down his wrench.

"Thank you JARVIS. Where is he at? Is he in bed?"

"No, he is in the kitchen making coffee."

Sighing, Bruce ran a hand through his hair and made his way out of the lab.

"Please do not forget to turn the lights off." JARVIS reminded him.

"Thanks." Bruce muttered, flipping the switch before closing up the door and locking it. The ride up the elevator was a short one, and Bruce walked into the kitchen to see Tony about to take a drink from his coffee mug. In two long strides, he was right in front of Tony and ripped the mug from his grasp.

"The hell? I was going to drink that!"

"I know."

Bruce took the mug over to the sink and dumped it out.

"That's seriously not very nice. I could've made you some too, if you'd asked." Tony crossed his arms, the arc reactor's light shining just above them.

"You need to sleep. Your fever has gone up."

"Who the hell told you that? JARVIS!"

"That's not important. Come with me right now." Bruce took Tony's arm and led him to the couch.

"Sit."

"Is that a question? Because I think no." Tony started to push past him.

"You're making me angry." Bruce said, a smile on his face.

Tony stopped at that, and scrutinized his lab buddy's face. He most certainly was not in favor of seeing the Hulk right at this particular moment, especially after the helicarrier, and not to mention Tony _was_ sick…

He sat down on the couch.

"I'm going to get you some aspirin. If you so much as think about getting up while I'm gone, this entire floor of your precious tower will disappear in a flash of green."

Tony mockingly stuck out his bottom lip and widened his eyes into a puppy-dog expression, following Bruce with his gaze as the man went to get some aspirin. As soon as Bruce was gone, his face turned into a grimace, and Tony put his hand to his chest as if trying to stifle the growing ache that had been growing there. He really did feel like utter crap and as much as he hated to admit it, he was glad that Bruce was here tonight to help him out a bit. All the other avengers had been out helping Fury with the helicarrier project. Including Pepper. The pain in his chest sharply intensified, and his breathing hitched. He gripped his shirt tightly, leaning forward some as the pain came to a head and then tapered off back to a dull ache. Through the pain, he hadn't heard the footsteps approaching.

"Where is it hurting?" Bruce asked. Tony quickly looked up.

"Hurting? What are you talking about?"

"Don't play games with me, Tony. I will ask you one more time. Where is it hurting?"

Tony squinted his eyes at Bruce.

"Who told you?"

"Is it the arc reactor?" Bruce probed.

"JARVIS?"

"Tony, is it the arc reactor?"

"It was JARVIS, wasn't it?"

"Yes it was fucking JARVIS, not to mention I saw the entire episode of you gripping your chest like your life depended on it, now why is it so hard to tell me such a simple thing?"

Suddenly, the pain was back, and Tony grabbed at his chest again as he leaned forward. Bruce pushed Tony to his back on the couch pushing his hand away.

"Is it the arc reactor?" Bruce asked again.

This time, Tony nodded, breathing in short, shallow breaths, the pain too much for him to really care. Bruce lifted up Tony's shirt. The skin around the arc reactor was red and irritated, and it was warm to the touch. But then again, all of Tony's skin was warm to the touch.

"JARVIS, what is his current temperature?"

"One hundred and three point eight."

Bruce cursed under his breath. Tony's breathing seemed to be slowing down, and he was beginning to relax as the pain started to fade back to the now familiar ache.

"Tony, I think something is wrong with the arc reactor."

Tony shook his head and swallowed hard, pushing Bruce's hands away from his chest and pulling his shirt down. His fever flushed face was shining with sweat.

"It happens when I get a fever." He began, pausing for a moment to grimace. With another deep breath he continued, "It kind of shorts out a bit. But don't worry, it's not life threatening, just painful."

Bruce wasn't convinced.

"That doesn't even make sense. It shouldn't do that. And when the device keeping you alive shorts out, it's not life threatening? Is that all?" He said sarcastically.

Tony, who was feeling much better now that the pain had faded, was back to his normal feverish and snappy self.

"Yeah, that just about sums it up." Tony jumped up from the couch and stumbled once again as the dizziness hit him and the black spots began to dance in his vision. Bruce caught him.

"I really need to stop doing that." Tony muttered.

"Tony I want you to listen to me." Bruce said quietly, his hands on Tony's shoulders.

"I'm all ears." He rolled his eyes for the millionth time that day.

"You're really sick, okay? I can tell you're in quite a bit of pain still, as unwilling as you are to admit it, and your fever has gone nowhere but up. I want you to swallow your pride or whatever it is that's keeping you from telling me what's wrong and be honest. If the pain starts to get worse, or if your fever keeps rising, tell me. Stop trying to hide it. It's not like I don't already know anyway, and whatever I don't know, JARVIS will just tell me."

For a moment, all the sarcasm seemed to have been sucked from Tony's eyes and Bruce could see how sick his friend really was. However, as fast as it went, the old Tony was back. But Bruce knew now there would be no more lies.

"Okay." Tony said. "But JARVIS seriously needs to keep his mouth shut."


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for all the kind and encouraging reviews, I really do appreciate them! Here's another chapter:)**

Bruce finally got Tony to fall asleep on the couch. He decided to camp out in the chair next to it, so he could keep an eye on Tony's fever. Though try as he might, Bruce could not seem to fall asleep as easily as his fellow scientist. He sat, observing the rise and fall of the arc reactor as Tony peacefully slumbered on. He decided that when Tony was well, he would complete an extensive scan of the reactor to see if he could find a way to stop it from shorting out the way it had. It was obviously taking a toll on Tony for him to be willing to admit it was hurting. After about two hours, his fever had not risen any, and Bruce started to nod off, still sitting in the chair. However, just as his eyes began to close, his phone, which had been sitting quietly in his pocket all this time began to ring loudly.

"Shit." Bruce muttered, struggling to pull the annoying piece of technology from its hiding spot before Tony could wake. He finally got a good grip on it and in the process of bringing it up to accept the call, dropped it on the ground. He jumped down to grab it and frantically pushed the 'accept' button, silencing the racket. He took a deep breath, crouched on the floor as still as a statue and whispered, "hello?" while keeping his eyes on Tony who was stirring slightly.

"Bruce? Why are you whispering?" It was Fury.

"Hold on just a moment." Bruce slowly stood up and when it was apparent Tony was not waking up, he walked into the hallway out of earshot.

"Sorry about that, Fury." Bruce said.

"What's going on?"

Bruce could just imagine the expression on the man's face.

"It's nothing; I just didn't want to wake Tony."

"What's he doing asleep this time of night? I've never seen him asleep before two in the morning."

For a split second, Bruce contemplated not telling Fury to protect Tony's pride. But then he decided, what the hell, Fury would probably find out sooner or later as it seemed Tony wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon.

"Bruce?"

"He came down with a fever and chest pains a few hours ago. I made him go to bed early."

"Chest pains and a fever, eh? Earlier, in the blueprint room, I found him leaning on a shelf looking at the arc reactor. Figured something was up."

"Yeah, it was like pulling teeth getting him to admit he was sick. JARVIS was the one who gave him away."

Bruce imagined Fury shaking his head.

"Stark is one stubborn man."

"There's no doubt about that. Anyway, what did you call me for?" Bruce asked.

"Natasha and Pepper are having a difficult time deciding what designs Tony created are more efficient. We had originally agreed on the first two, but now Pepper is leaning towards the others. And Thor won't shut up about Asgard. I had wanted to speak with Tony about it, but considering the current situation, I can see that will not happen."

"Alright, when he wakes up I will have him call you. What time can I expect you all back here?"

There was a pause and an aggravated sigh.

"I had originally wanted to get there before dawn, but now I'm not so sure. Although I guess that's better for Tony because he probably doesn't want anyone to see him in his current state."

Bruce chuckled and then was interrupted by JARVIS.

"Sir's temperature is spiking."

"Hey, look, I've got to go, Tony's temperature is rising. Don't tell any of the others about him, but Pepper may need to know. Tell her it's not urgent as of right now, but I do want her to be aware."

"Will do."

With that Fury hung up. Bruce made sure to put his phone on silent, and went back to the couch where Tony lay. He could see sweat beading on Tony's forehead, and his previously restful sleep had become fitful.

"What's his temperature now?" Bruce asked JARVIS.

"One hundred and four."

Bruce shook his head while biting his lower lip in thought. This fever was getting too high. He decided he should give Tony some ibuprofen, as he remembered Tony never took the aspirin he had gotten earlier, and he might need something stronger. So Bruce quietly went to the bathroom and fetched two pills and a glass of water. When he came back, Tony was conveniently starting to wake up. This was a relief, as the man was notoriously cranky when someone was to wake him.

"Good morning sleepyhead." Bruce said. "Your fever isn't getting any better so I brought you some ibuprofen." He held out the pills and water. Tony hesitated for a moment and then reached out to take them. He swallowed them both with an awful grimace.

"God, did you have to get the biggest pills in the cabinet?"

"Of course." Bruce said.

"Where's Pepper?" Tony asked, and then he quickly remembered. "Oh, wait, never mind. Helicarrier." He went to lie back down, closing his eyes.

"Do you want me to call her?"

"Oh no, don't bother her I'm sure she's busy."

"Well, she actually is kind of busy. Fury called."

Tony promptly sat back up.

"What for?" he asked suspiciously.

"Pepper and Natasha were disagreeing on which plans to use for the design. Fury wanted your input."

Tony grabbed at his chest, gripping his shirt tightly, his face twisting in pain.

"You okay?" Bruce asked. Tony nodded.

"Did you tell Fury about…well you know?"

"Yeah."

"Shit." Tony put his face in his hands and took a deep breath, then swung his legs over the side of the couch to get up, shoving past Bruce.

"Where are you going?" Bruce asked.

"Out." Tony headed towards the elevator where he grabbed his coat and started putting it on.

"Are you stupid?" Bruce said incredulously.

Tony paused for a moment, raising his eyebrows.

"Maybe."

Bruce huffed and strode over to Tony covering the button for the elevator he was about to push.

"Come on. Stop being such a party pooper." Tony tried swatting away Bruce's hand but quickly gave up when he came up unsuccessful.

"JARVIS, I want to use the elevator."

"Don't go crying to your computer just because you can't get your way."

Tony squinted at Bruce. The elevator started whirring.

"JARVIS, Tony isn't going anywhere. Don't bring him the elevator."

The whirring stopped.

"What, am I grounded or something? Seriously, move out of the way."

Tony pushed at Bruce's hand again.

"You're pushing it, Tony. I can only remain calm for so long."

This time, Tony stopped. He seriously didn't want the Hulk to make an appearance.

"Bruce, I've got to go. I can't have Fury thinking that a stupid fever is enough hold me down. I'm Iron man, for God's sake." He pleaded. Bruce was actually a little taken aback. Tony was opening up.

"I know how you feel, but for now it's one in the morning. You're burning up and I _know_ you're still hurting. Come on, be realistic. If you really want to, call Fury. I'm sure he isn't going to hold it against you that you're sick for the first time in who knows how long. Just stay."

Tony sighed and took his coat off.

"Okay. I'll call him."

Bruce breathed a sigh of relief and followed Tony back to the couch.


	4. Chapter 4

**Here ya go! Any suggestions are welcome! Hope you like it!**

They only made it halfway to the couch before Tony fell to his knees, grabbing his chest.

"Are you okay?" Bruce asked kneeling beside his friend who was breathing hard, face twisted in pain.

"Yeah, it's the arc reactor. It's still shorting out." Tony managed through clenched teeth.

"After you call Fury, I'm taking a look at that. This has gone on long enough."

To Bruce's surprise, Tony nodded. After a few moments, the tension melted away from Tony's expression and he went to get back up. His knees buckled and Bruce barely caught him. Leaning on Bruce for support, Tony was able to make it back to the couch. He sat down heavily, wiping sweat from his flushed face. Bruce handed him his phone. Tony searched through the contacts for a moment and then stopped.

"Who's number is this? It says 'The Lady friend'. You have one of those?"

Crap. Bruce grabbed the phone from his friend's hand.

"Why are you even in the T's? You're supposed to call Fury, remember?"

"Can't a man be curious?"

Bruce found Fury's number quickly and pushed dial, shoving the phone back in Tony's hands.

"Fury. You called?" Tony said. Bruce could barely hear Fury's voice on the other line.

"Tony. Surprised you're awake. Bruce told me you were pretty sick." Fury said.

"I'm fine."

"You don't sound fine."

"Whatever. Bruce said you had a question for me."

"Well, Miss Potts and Natasha are having a difficult time deciding what blueprints are more efficient. They like the design of them all, though they're leaning towards the first two. They wanted to know what ones will probably be best for the power the helicarrier can exert."

Tony thought for a moment and then his face scrunched up and his free hand went to his chest.

"The first two. Those are the best…Bruce stop it."

Bruce was motioning for Tony to let him see the arc reactor.

"Thanks, Stark." Fury said. Then there was a pause and a different voice was on the line.

"Tony, how are you? Fury said you were sick."

Bruce finally got Tony to lift up his shirt. The skin around the arc reactor was red and inflamed. He was beginning to think the infection fueling Tony's fever was caused by the device that was keeping him alive. How ironic. He had been hoping it was just a passing thing; that the fever would burn itself out. Unfortunately that didn't seem likely anymore given it had been rising so much. The ibuprofen had helped some but the fever was still there, although suppressed.

"Pepper, I'm fine."

"God, Tony, you sound awful. How high is your fever?"

"Seriously, it's nothing."

"Don't avoid the question. How high is it?"

Tony huffed.

"I don't know, like a hundred."

JARVIS's voice cut in.

"Your core body temperature is one hundred and three point nine, sir."

"Thank you JARVIS." Pepper said sarcastically.

"You could hear that?" Tony asked.

"Yes. Now I want you to get some rest. I will be back in a few hours."

"Right. Bye Pepper."

"Bye Tony. Feel better."

Tony closed the phone and Bruce took it back before he could go through the contacts again.

"Okay, we're going down to the lab. I'm going to have a look at the arc reactor."

Tony sighed and Bruce held out his hand to help Tony up. For once, Tony actually took it and unsteadily got to his feet.

The lab was dark when they arrived, just as Bruce left it.

"JARVIS, lights please."

The lights clicked on and Tony entered the code to unlock the door. With a loud noise, it opened up and Bruce made Tony lie down on the large chair that resembled a dentist's.

"Take your shirt off." Bruce said. Tony raised his eyebrows and whistled.

"Well aren't you mister eager beaver there. Not even Pepper has said that to me."

Bruce rolled his eyes and Tony took off his shirt. Bruce then proceeded to attach an EKG to monitor Tony's heart activity.

"Is all this really necessary?" Tony asked sarcastically, picking one off that had just been put on his chest, the sticky goo getting all over his fingers. Bruce yanked it out of his fellow genius's hand and put it back where it was supposed to be. Once the monitor was beeping away, Bruce turned back to Tony. Tony smiled jokingly, showing all his teeth.

"Alright, here we go."

Bruce unscrewed the arc reactor and gently pulled it out. It unplugged itself and the heart monitor sped up. He examined the device for any abnormalities, and finding none, handed it to Tony to hold on to.

"Looks like that part's fine."

"I know." Tony said. "I think it's the piece it attaches to that's been causing problems."

So Bruce peered into Tony's chest cavity. He immediately spotted the problem. A strand of one of the wires to the plug for the arc reactor was poking out into some soft tissue.

"I found it."

Bruce took some small pliers and reached in. He had a hard time grabbing the wire but he managed to bend it back and tuck it into its rightful place. When he was done, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"The wire is back in place, but the tissue it was poking into is infected from the aggravation. There's pus everywhere and believe me, it's not the regular pus. The infection is why you have a fever."

"Well, pour some alcohol on it." Tony suggested.

"Tony, I can't pour alcohol into your infected chest cavity."

"I could drink it."

"Shut up."

Bruce decided instead to give Tony antibiotics and put the arc reactor back into its place.

"Okay, your fever shouldn't be getting any worse now. It might linger, though, until the infection is fully gone."

"Fabulous." Tony said. The two went back upstairs and Tony lay back on the couch, falling asleep once again. Bruce sat back in his chair and this time, he managed to fall asleep. It seemed like he had just closed his eyes when he was woken by JARVIS.

"Agent Fury and Pepper Potts are at the door. They will be upstairs in approximately one minute and twenty eight seconds."

"Thank you JARVIS." Bruce said, stretching as he stood up. Tony was still asleep. Bruce put his hand on his forehead. It was still warmer than it should be, but it seemed the fever had gone down a bit.

"JARVIS, what's his temperature?"

"One hundred and three."

"Thank you."

At least it had gone down point nine degrees, Bruce thought. Suddenly the elevator opened. Bruce instantly put his finger to his mouth to keep them quiet, and the two entered the room, their feet barely making a sound. Pepper went right to Tony, putting her hand on his forehead as Bruce had just done.

"How is he?" She whispered. "He feels awfully warm."

"He's doing better. A wire was poking into the soft tissue in his chest from the arc reactor causing an infection. I fixed that a few hours ago. His fever's going down some."

Pepper sighed in relief and stood back up. Fury turned to Bruce.

"We've chosen the first two designs. The helicarrier is on its way to be fixed."

Bruce smiled.

"Finally. Sorry about the damage, by the way."

Fury shook his head with a chuckle.

"Just don't do it again."


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry it took me forever to update, I've been in New York city:P This chapter isn't very eventful, but I promise the next one will be better:) hope you like it!**

It took him a moment to remember where he was and why he felt like an elephant had run over his chest when Tony awoke to sunlight peeking through the windows in Stark tower. He blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes, sitting up as he recalled the previous evening. He held his chest as he moved, being careful not to aggravate the pain that was shooting through him. It was even more painful than the ache that had previously occupied his chest and it made Tony think of a splinter; how they always seemed to hurt worse the day after it was taken out.

"God, Bruce needs to be a better surgeon." He muttered to himself. "This is just torture."

"Does it hurt?" A voice said from the chair on Tony's right. His head whipped around.

"What are you doing here?" Tony asked Fury, who was sitting comfortably in Bruce's favorite chair, watching Tony with a concerned gaze. Or at least it looked concerned. Tony really couldn't tell, what with the eye patch and all.

"Watching you sleep." Fury said.

"That's not creepy at all." Tony said sarcastically. "What happened to Bruce?"

"He had wanted to keep an eye on your fever while you slept, but he was starting to look tired so I took over the job for him. He said to tell you to take the antibiotics on the kitchen counter as soon as you woke up."

"Antibiotics? I'm not sick. It's just an infection."

"An infection means you're sick. That's where fevers come from. I thought you were a genius."

"I am a genius." Tony said with a glare. "Geniuses don't get sick. Just infections."

"Well then, smartass, get your infection over there and take your antibiotics before I make you."

Tony gave him his classic puppy dog look.

"Hey, you really should be nicer to people when they're sick."

Fury gave him his classic I'm-going-to-kill-you-if-you-don't-shut-up look. Tony got up. There was a little white bottle sitting on the counter and on top were two pills. Bruce had already taken them out for him. Tony grabbed a glass of water and swallowed both of them at once, grimacing as they went down. He could still see Fury across the room in the chair so Tony turned to the back counter and pretended he was getting something to eat.

"JARVIS." He whispered. "Show me my temperature."

A display of numbers appeared on the counter's surface. Tony sighed. His temperature was still 102. At least it was going down. He was seriously hoping Fury would leave him alone. He hated to have the man telling him to take his medicine like Tony was five. Tony turned around and headed back over to the couch where he grabbed his cell phone from the side table and turned to the elevator, ignoring Fury completely.

"JARVIS, my workshop, please."

"I'm sorry sir, but I have specific commands not to allow you down there on account of your illness."

Tony frowned.

"Who the hell told you that?"

There was silence and Tony could see Fury smirking from the edge of his vision.

"Override the command then."

"I'm sorry but I cannot do that."

"JARVIS, don't be an ass. I designed you so I tell you what to do. Now let me downstairs."

The AI didn't respond. Tony sighed and turned to Fury.

"Did SHIELD hack JARVIS?"

"You can count on it." Fury said with amusement playing into his voice. Tony thought it would be seriously creepy to see the man full out smile. He had the frightening feeling it was going to happen if Tony's luck kept going sour. "JARVIS isn't allowed to let you downstairs until your temperature returns to at least 99 degrees. Once that happens, he's all yours again."

"I really hate you." Tony said.

"I'm glad."

Bruce walked in at that moment, yawning with extreme vigor.

"Hey Tony. Fury." He nodded to the man, who had still not gotten up from the chair. In fact, it was starting to look to Tony that he was never going to get up Fury was looking a little too comfortable.

"How are you feeling this morning?" Bruce turned to his friend.

"I'm fine. I've been fine. In fact, I've never been un-fine."

"Right. Bruce said. "Did you take your antibiotics I left for you?"

"You're not my mother."

"I take that as a yes."

"I want to go to my workshop but SHIELD hacked JARVIS." Tony whined.

"Too bad." Bruce said, heading to the fridge to grab something to eat.

"Come on, you're my doctor aren't you? Tell them I'm fine now because you operated on me!"

Bruce closed the fridge door and looked Tony in the eye.

"Tony, you need to rest. Pepper's been worrying all night because of you. Don't give her any reasons to actually have cause worry about. Get better."

This shut Tony up. He pursed his lips.

"Pepper's here?"

Bruce nodded and pointed down the hallway.

"She's in the back sleeping."

Tony wordlessly went around Bruce and went straight down the hall. Bruce chuckled.

"Those two are adorable."

Tony knocked on the door quietly.

"Pepper? Are you awake?"

He listened for a moment and heard some rustling from inside. Then the door's lock clicked and Pepper cracked open the door, peeking around it.

"Tony! You're awake!" She opened the door all the way. Tony awkwardly tried not look stare at her. She was wearing an oversized dress shirt that looked suspiciously familiar. No pants. Tony swallowed hard, making eye contact.

"Yeah, I'm awake."

"Are you feeling better?" She asked.

"All of you act like my mother. I'm fine. Except Fury overrode JARVIS so I can't go into my workshop until my fever is down to 99."

"So you still have a fever?"

Tony rolled his eyes.

"I'm fine."

"Here, why don't you lay down awhile in my room? We can put in a movie and you can be 'fine' and all while you get some rest."

"How can I refuse an offer to join you in your room?" Tony smiled. Pepper smiled too and rolled her eyes.

"Shut up." She said playfully, stepping aside so he could come in. Pepper went to the television and started flipping through the movies lining the shelf beneath it. Tony flopped down on the bed and immediately regretted it, because the pain in his chest flared up again.

"Ouch." He said involuntarily, his hand to his chest yet again.

Pepper turned around.

"Does it still hurt?" She asked.

"No, it's nothing. Just a little sore. I mean, Bruce did shove pliers into my chest yesterday."

"You poor thing." She laughed and turned back to the television, putting a DVD into the player. Pepper sat next to Tony on the bed as it started to play. Tony frowned.

"The Lion King? You seriously want to watch the Lion King?"

Pepper shushed him.

"Be a man and watch."

So the two watched the movie, a space between them on the bed. Halfway through, Tony started to nod off, the fever getting the better of him, and his head dropped to Pepper's shoulder. She smiled and snuggled against him, the arc reactor's light shining gently on her face.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks for all the positive feedback:) It just makes my day:) **

The two were awoken a few hours later to an alarm sounding throughout the building. It was a call to assemble. Tony immediately got up and headed towards the kitchen area, Pepper trailing behind him and pulling on proper clothes as they walked.

"What's going on?"

Bruce and Fury were about to get on the elevator.

"There's been an invasion in lower Manhattan of robotic drones. Pepper, we need you." Fury said. Pepper nodded and headed towards them. Tony grabbed her arm.

"Wait for me; it'll only take me a second to get ready."

They all gave him an incredulous look.

"You aren't going anywhere." Bruce said.

"Excuse me? The world is in danger and I have to stay at home? No way." Tony said.

Fury crossed his arms and stood to face Tony with a stern look on his face.

"Sorry, but you are in no condition to leave this room let alone suit up and fight. Sit this one out. You can come out and play with the rest of us the next time."

"You can't stop me." Tony said.

"Actually, I can."

"Prove it."

Fury began to lift his arm and the stun gun that was in his sleeve became exposed.

That's when Bruce stepped in.

"Fury, stop this. And Tony, listen to me. You're in no condition for fighting. Arguing about this is only making things worse. The drones are out there wreaking havoc on the city and because you can't get over yourself and let other people help out, you're letting people die. Every minute you prolong this it's just getting worse. Let us handle this. Please!"

There was silence and Tony looked taken aback, the realization having hit him. He seemed to be calculating for a moment and then stepped backwards. Everyone was still.

"Well, go on then! Don't let me hold you back!"

Like a switch had been flipped, everyone went back into motion, hurrying for the elevator. Fury was frantically answering calls on his earpiece and as they piled into the elevator Bruce turned back for a moment.

"I'm sorry, Tony. Thanks for understanding."

Tony only nodded curtly and turned around as the elevator doors shut behind him. He waited for the familiar whirring as the elevator slowly descended. As soon as it stopped, he turned back around. He headed straight for the central command unit in the wall and turned it on, hacking into JARVIS's database.

"JARVIS, your command is now overridden. Access to workshop is allowed regardless of my current body temperature."

"Yes sir. The elevator is coming back up for you immediately."

It took only seconds before the elevator came back up and opened its doors. Tony hopped on it and it went down to the workshop. The lights were off.

"Lights on, JARVIS. Get my suit ready for use."

"Yes sir. But don't you think you should be resting?"

"Nope."

Tony strode over to the center of the room and stepped onto his suit's launch pad. Immediately, the robotic arms began to whir around him, placing all the pieces to the Ironman suit in the correct places. As it plugged into the arc reactor, Tony gasped as pain shot through his chest. He quickly shook it off, determined to go through with his plan. Not that he actually had one.

Tony slid the helmet on.

"Establishing command database. All weapons ready…" JARVIS droned on as Tony flexed his arms. He was all ready, except for one thing.

"JARVIS, lower the suit's temperature two degrees. I'm feeling a little warm."

"Sir, that is due to your elevated core body temperature. It's at one hundred and one point two."

Tony sighed.

"I know, I know. Just lower it."

"Yes sir." The suit instantly felt cooler.

Tony flew off the tower within two minutes of suiting up and JARVIS's maps showed him exactly where the robotic drones were causing destruction. It wasn't all that far from the tower.

"These guys think I can't help them out with such a simple mission just because of a fever? This is practically in my backyard!" Tony complained to JARVIS.

"Sir, there is a drone behind you locking on target."

"Thanks JARVIS."

Tony blasted it out of the air.

"Good one, sir."

As Tony dipped down to the streets in an attempt to stop some more drones, he felt the twinging that had been happening in his chest since the suit came on intensify.

"This looks like it will be a little more difficult than I thought." He whispered.

As he dove into the street, he took out about six of the things, one of which was about to crush a car with three people in it. He heard the familiar cheering for Ironman and waved to them. The pain got worse. He knocked out another drone. Sweat began dripping down his face.

"JARVIS, knock it down another two."

The suit cooled some. A flash of green passed Tony's peripheral vision. It was the Hulk. Crap. He took out another pair of drones and then suddenly, the phone installed within the suit rang. It was Pepper.

"Tony!" She yelled. "Are you a complete _idiot_? What the hell are you doing?"

Tony blew up some more drones.

"Hello to you, too."

"This is not a joke! Go back to the tower!"

He whipped around and pushed a car out of the way.

"Well, I'm here now, so why not finish what I started?"

"Finish what you started? I'll tell you what you started! You're going to be suspended from the Avengers if you keep this up! I'll lock you in your room for a week! And I won't let you have any of your stupid projects to work on! Do you hear me? Tony!"

"Sorry, Pepper, no can do." He hung up. He was on a mission to prove that he could handle anything even if he had a fever; to show that he wasn't weak. Although he was extremely determined in his mind, his body was a different story.

The pain in his chest intensified.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello everyone, here's the next chapter:) Hope you love it as much as the others! Thanks for reading:)**

Tony knocked out a few more drones before he started to realize that he wasn't going to be able to finish the mission. Sweat was dripping down his face, his chest felt like it was on fire, and he was having trouble reacting to the dangers all around him. There was a cut on his forehead that was probably going to need stitches; blood was mixing in with the sweat on his face. Through his thoughts, he saw a drone coming towards him and his foggy mind didn't seem to let him react in time. Tony braced for the impact that was definitely coming…

An instant before the drone hit him, it collapsed in a heap of metal and steam on top of him. He pushed it away and it dropped with a clang onto the ground. Tony let out the breath he didn't know he was holding and dropped to his knees, staring at the drone. What had made it collapse? He took a few deep breaths, willing the pain to go away and the SHIELD intercom within the suit turned on and Fury's voice filled Tony's suit.

"Okay everyone, Steve has infiltrated the main drone and shut off the control center. According to our data, every drone should have stopped working. Now all we need to do is the cleanup. Every piece of technology is now SHIELD property. Please take it back to the Manhattan headquarters on 4th avenue."

Tony sighed and went to stand up, the suit preventing him from swaying and falling over. There were a lot of drones on the streets; this cleanup could take hours. Not only that, but people were flooding the streets, surrounding him, cheering for the success. He raised his arm and waved, humoring the crowds.

"Thank you everyone, but I haven't finished yet. Please let me do my job and clear the streets."

They backed off some, letting him through as he began to pick up the scraps and put them in a large pile on the side of the street. Some of the people were actually helping him, and Tony almost smiled. One little kid was struggling to lift a large arm that Tony had blown off one of the drones. He went over and helped him lift it. They dropped it on top of the large pile that was growing every second.

"Thanks, kid. Couldn't have done it without you."

"No problem!" he said, a large grin on his little face. He turned and raced over to his mom. Tony turned around and bumped right into a very angry Captain America.

"Tony, it's time for you to go home!" He growled.

"I'm not going anywhere." Tony said.

"Why are you so stubborn? Can't you follow any type of order? You need rest."

"I'm fine! Why are _you_ so stubborn?"

"Look, I was sent to tell you that Bruce is already back up in the tower and last I saw him, he hadn't changed back from the Hulk."

"You mean you just _let_ the Hulk in my tower?"

"He does live there, you know. I thought you were a genius." Steve said with a smirk. Tony considered going back for a minute and then thought better of it.

"I am a genius." Tony said.

"Right, like I'll believe that a genius would do something as stupid as compromising his health just to fight in a routine battle. We all know you're trying to prove a point that you're fine and well here's news for you: we all know you're not fine, so grow up and admit it." Steve clenched his jaw and gave Tony his best threatening look.

"The Hulk isn't really in my tower, is he?"

"Yes he is."

"JARVIS says you're lying. Your heart rate is elevated and he's pointed out several nervous ticks of yours. Stop twiddling your thumbs."

Steve clenched his hands.

"Shut up and go home." He turned around and began cleaning up the street.

"Liar, liar, pants on fire!" Tony chanted. Steve's face went red but he continued on with his work, ignoring his fellow teammate. Tony really wanted to get a reaction out of him. His pride was feeling a bit hurt at the knowledge everyone didn't want him there even if he knew they were right, so he kept trying.

"Aww, does the red white and spangly have his pants all in a tangly?"

Steve continued to clean up, avoiding Tony's gaze.

"Hey Steve, you just lied in front of a church. Maybe you ought to…"

He never finished, for the pain that had been growing in his chest had become almost unbearable. Tony clenched his teeth.

"Ugh!"

Unfortunately, this simple interjection was the one thing that got Steve's attention. He looked up as Tony stumbled, the suit unable to catch him. He fell to his knees with a loud clank, the pavement cracking under the force of the metal. Tony felt like he couldn't breathe, and in his desperation pulled off the helmet. It fell to the ground, rolling in front of Steve's feet. Steve picked the helmet up and looked down at Tony who was gasping for breath, his face contorted in pain. The sight of his teammate in such a state was shocking. Sweat and blood mingled on his face, his hair matted in a disheveled mess. He had never seen Tony so unkempt. Tony's breathing slowed and he refused to look up, holding out his armored hand for the helmet.

"Give it…Give it back…" He gasped. Steve hesitated. Tony's hand dropped to his side and he looked up, squinting against the sunlight.

"Come on, play nice. Give Ironman his helmet."

"Only if you promise to go back."

Tony sat for a moment, thinking, and then gave up. He nodded, took another deep breath and lifted his arm. Steve placed the helmet gently in the palm of his hand and Tony put it back in place.

"JARVIS, get the landing station ready. I'm going back to the tower."

"Yes sir." The AI responded. Tony stood up and blasted into the sky, making the familiar trip back to the top of Stark tower.

Steve stood on the ground and watched him fly back, to make sure Tony was really going back, and when he saw Tony land gracefully where he was supposed to, he almost scolded himself for not trusting his teammate. Almost.

The land was graceful from a distance, but in reality, it was probably one of the most un-graceful landings Tony had made in quite some time. It jolted him, and caused the pain to flare up yet again. Tony seriously was regretting having left the tower. The machines whirred around him, and the suit was removed. He was walking off the landing pad and saw Pepper at the end of it. She did not look happy at all.

"Hey, Pepper." He said. "How's it going?"

"How's it _going_? You just risked your life for a stupid reason, hung up on my desperate phone call, barely make it back in one piece and ask me how's it going?" She yelled.

"Yeah, well I'm here now. Where's Bruce? I need him. Like, right now." He said desperately, for he knew what was about to happen. His vision swam and Pepper's voice began to echo strangely.

"Why? What's wrong? Tony? Tony!"

Tony took two steps and collapsed right in front of the door.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry for the cliffhanger, I always hate them but I love writing them...I'm a horrible person:3 Hope you like it!**

Pepper watched in horror as Tony fell to the ground.

"Tony! Oh my God!"

She dropped to her knees at his side onto the cold cement of the landing pad, the hard surface scraping them. Pepper ignored the pain and put her hand on Tony's shoulder, turning him gently onto his back. He rolled over lifelessly, blood trickling from the wound in his head.

"Bruce!" She screamed with a loud sob. "BRUCE!"

Her headset cut in.

"Miss Potts, what is the problem?" Fury said with exasperation.

"Fury, I need Bruce! I thought he was in the tower!" Tears streamed down her cheeks.

"He should be downstairs getting dressed from his Hulk episode. Have JARVIS call for him. What's the matter?"

"JARVIS! Call for Bruce! Tell him it's an emergency! Tony's collapsed!" She yelled to the AI.

"Right away!" JARVIS responded.

"Tony's collapsed?" Fury boomed.

"Yes!" Fresh tears welled in her eyes and she could hear Fury ordering the other Avengers to the tower to assist. But she didn't pay much attention to it. She gently lifted Tony's head up from the cold cement, placing him on her lap. She dabbed at the blood on his face with a tissue, trying to dry it, but her tears kept falling; wetting his cheeks as if he were crying too.

"Why do you have to do this to yourself?" She whispered. "I love you."

She could feel his labored breathing; see the light blue glow of the arc reactor rising and falling as he struggled to draw in air. His breath was gentle on her hand which cupped his prickly cheek, holding him to her lap. Everything around her was quiet; tranquil. It almost felt as though time had stopped. But then Bruce rushed to her side.

"How long has he been unconscious?" He said frantically, quickly leaning to Tony's chest to listen to his heart.

"About two minutes." Pepper said.

Bruce took out a needle injected a clear liquid into Tony's arm.

"What's that?" Pepper asked; her voice cracking from crying. Bruce took the needle out, holding a ball of cotton to the injection site.

"JARVIS said he has hypotension. Here, hold this." Bruce indicated to the cotton ball, and Pepper held it steady to Tony's arm with her thumb.

"Hypotension?"

"Low blood pressure. The team is on its way to help. I'm going to get a gurney so we can take him downstairs to the infirmary. His fever has spiked much too high; he's aggravated the infection. Stay here with him."

Pepper nodded frantically and Bruce went to get up.

"Wait." She said. He stopped for a moment, meeting her eyes.

"Is he going to be okay?"

Bruce held her gaze.

"Tony's a strong man. He wouldn't want to let you down." He said seriously, and then turned to the doors, jogging to the elevator. Pepper watched him until the elevator doors opened and he disappeared. Her attention turned back to Tony.

"Don't let me down." She whispered.

The doors opened in the infirmary, and Bruce quickly went into the room, searching for the gurney.

"JARVIS, how's his blood pressure now?" He asked as he scanned the room with his eyes.

"It's risen some. Sir is out of immediate danger; however, that will not last long unless the fever is taken care of."

Bruce spotted the gurney and raced over to it.

"Thank you JARVIS."

He pushed the bed away from the wall it was at and to the elevator, grabbing various medical instruments and flinging them on top of the mattress as he went. He even flung a stethoscope over his shoulders. The elevator was still open; obviously JARVIS had left it that way, and he wheeled it in, the elevator automatically going to the top where Tony was at. Pepper was still in the same position. It broke Bruce's heart to see the couple in such a situation. He quickly got the bed over to Tony's side and started taking off his unconscious friend's shirt. The corners of his mouth twitched when he imagined the quips Tony would have made if he were lucid. Bruce already missed the humor that was totally drained from Tony's face. With Pepper's help, his shirt was successfully removed and Bruce began attaching electrodes around the arc reactor, plugging the wires from a heart monitor installed on the gurney to them. It turned on by itself as soon as they were all attached, the annoying beeping slower than it should be. Bruce squinted at the monitor. The main structure of the QRS complex in the EKG was looking alright, a nice T wave in the finish, but the P wave wasn't looking as it should. There were almost two of them. Bruce was worried at that bad sign. He didn't want Tony to go into cardiac arrest because of how near the infection was to his heart.

"JARVIS, how's his blood pressure?" He asked as he injected an antibiotic right next to where he had injected the fludrocortisone.

"It's stable."

"Good."

Suddenly, Steve, Fury, Thor, Natasha, and Hawkeye rushed in off the elevator.

"How can we help?" Fury asked as soon as they all saw Tony.

"We need to get him on the gurney. Natasha, take Pepper."

Natasha went to Pepper's side, helping her up, and Bruce took Tony's head in his hands. Pepper sobbed as she handed him over, Natasha pulling her into a hug. Steve and Thor both went to help pick him up. Thor had Tony's middle and Steve had his legs.

"On the count of three. One, two, three!" The men picked him up, albeit quite roughly, for Thor is not a gentle person anyway, and laid him out onto the white sheet covering the mattress of the gurney.

"We've got to get him to the infirmary. I'm going to have to go in his chest and examine the tissue so I can figure out what to give him, and then he needs some stitches." Bruce started pushing the bed, and the rest of them rushed to help, the gurney going to the elevator once more. JARVIS opened it automatically and the group disappeared. Natasha and Pepper remained upstairs, for Natasha did not believe Pepper should be in there with Tony in his current state. She held her as she cried into her shoulder, whispering the most comforting words she could think of. It was going to be a rough night.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello readers! Here is your next chapter! This might be the only one for a while (Probably a week) because my laptop is on the verge of death and it must go to the repair shop, but I promise as soon as I get it back, there will be more Tony for you! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy:)**

Fury, Steve, Thor, Clint and Bruce arrived down in the infirmary quickly, but the atmosphere was thick with worry, making the ride seem longer than it should have. The elevator was painfully quiet, filled mostly with the sounds of Tony, who was still breathing rather quickly. Bruce took note of his labored breathing, but there was no need to intubate the patient, at least not yet, because he was still breathing alright on his own. However, Bruce made sure he still had his kit on hand, for anything could happen in a situation like this. He was carefully calculating what needed to be done when they arrived at the destination. Tony was going to need an IV, and Bruce decided he may have to examine his chest again. The others could help. If the tissue was too infected, some was going to have to be removed, and in Tony's situation, this was bad because the arc reactor had already taken up a lot of room in his chest, decreasing his lung capacity and such. But Bruce tried not to think about it too much; the last time he had seen inside Tony's chest, it wasn't all that bad. It couldn't have gotten to the point of surgery already, right? He shook his head and was drawn out of his foreboding thoughts when he looked up, meeting the eyes of everyone in the elevator. One question was hanging in the air, and Bruce didn't know how to answer it. Suddenly, the movement stopped, and the metal doors slid open. Everyone pushed the gurney out and into the blindingly white room.

"Put him over here." Bruce directed.

They rolled Tony to the wall Bruce was standing at, and he quickly went to work. First, he detached the heart monitor and plugged it into the wall for an alternate power source. He put it onto its rightful pole to hang on as it dutifully beeped away.

"Fury, I need you to go back into the medicine room. There should be a kit to administer an IV and I need some fluids. Get me a saline, and an antibiotic."

Fury nodded and quickly strode off into the room.

"Wait! Get a corticosteroid as well. For the inflammation."

"Got it."

Tony's chest was red and warm to the touch.

"JARVIS. Blood pressure."

"Its fallen some." The AI responded.

"Systolic over diastolic, please?" Bruce wanted the numbers this time.

"60/40."

He cursed under his breath.

"Is there anything I can do?" Steve said from behind.

"I don't know yet, I'll tell you if I need you." Bruce responded.

He stood, thinking for a moment. What should he do? He hadn't been in a situation like this for a while. He decided that while waiting for Fury, he'd take a look at Tony to make sure he hadn't hurt himself when he fell. So he checked his joints, flexing each one, making sure nothing else was wrong. His patient was fine everywhere but his forehead, where a large gash gaped open; it was no longer bleeding significantly, but it was going to need stitches. He decided on fixing that once he could get some fluids into Tony. Thankfully, Fury came back at that moment and handed him the IV needle. Bruce made quick work of it, finding the vein with little difficulty and he strung the bags up onto a metal rack that was near the bed.

"How is he doing?" Fury asked as he observed Bruce's careful work.

"He's definitely been better."

He finished up with the IV and turned back to Fury.

"I'm going to need a vasopressor from the back."

"Right." Fury grunted and proceeded to return to the back room.

"Steve, can you get me that tank of oxygen from the other side of the room?" Bruce asked.

"Of course." The man said. Bruce thought that maybe if he gave him something to do, even if it wasn't necessary, it would make him feel better. Steve liked to be on top of things; he hated to feel like he couldn't contribute to anything. He arrived back in seconds with the tank and Bruce thanked him, attaching the tubes to Tony's nose. Oxygen definitely couldn't hurt in this situation. When Fury came back, Bruce administered the vasopressor and stood back, taking a deep breath.

"All he really needs right now is some stitches and rest. I might take a look inside the arc reactor, but I think we ought to let him get his rest before we start anymore treatments."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and Bruce grabbed a stitching kit from a nearby table. He pulled on his latex gloves and went to work. He first sterilized the wound and equipment, and within about ten minutes, there was a neat row of blue stiches on Tony's forehead. Bruce actually did a pretty job with it. It shouldn't leave too much of a scar.

When he stood back once again, he observed everyone around him. They were standing around, looking rather uncomfortable.

"That's all we can do. If you want to go upstairs and tell Pepper she can come down, go ahead." Thor, Steve, and Clint all nodded, obviously they were the most uncomfortable, and together headed to the elevator. Fury remained, his hands folded in front of him. As soon as the elevator doors closed, Bruce slumped down into a chair. They both looked at Tony.

"We need to do better next time." Fury said. "We should have left someone here to keep him from going out."

"Didn't you hack JARVIS though?" Bruce asked, looking up at Fury questioningly.

"Yes, but no one can fool Tony. He created JARVIS, he can un-hack him in an instant. But I thought that maybe he wouldn't act so rashly. Maybe he wouldn't put in the effort because he knew how ill he really was. It would have at least given him an excuse to why he had to stay home other than admitting he was sick."

Bruce snorted.

"He may be a genius, but on the inside he's just the same as anyone else. Just as afraid to admit he's weak."

The two became silent, the beeping of the EKG filling the thick atmosphere.


	10. Chapter 10

**My computer has come home with a clean bill of health! Now lets hope Tony comes home with the same:) Thanks for reading!**

Pepper cried for a good amount of time. Natasha was starting to feel slightly uncomfortable in this situation, for she was never really the best at comforting people. When Pepper's sobs turned into small hiccups, Natasha pulled her away from her shoulder and sat her on the couch, handing the poor girl a tissue. She then went to the kitchen and got a cool glass of water, placing it in Pepper's shaky hands, and proceeded to take a seat by her friend.

"There now, it'll all be okay. Bruce knows what he's doing."

Pepper sniffled loudly, another tear escaping her bloodshot eyes.

"But what if there's nothing he can do? What if he doesn't know what he's doing?"

"I'm pretty sure Tony's in good hands. Once when I was stuck with a dagger in the abdomen during a mission Bruce dug it out all professionally without any real medical tools because, after all, we were in the middle of nowhere, and then stitched it up nice and pretty with some crappy medical stuff he salvaged from what tiny first aid kit we had. It's like it never even happened."

Natasha peered up at nothing in particular with a nostalgic expression. Pepper scrunched up her face and gave her friend a strange look.

"Excuse me? He did _what_ exactly?"

"He saved my life. I could've died from that wound. If he could do that in a situation as dire as that one was, I'm pretty sure he can save Tony with every medical tool imaginable at his hands."

Natasha almost let out the breath she had been holding because Pepper seemed to calm down some. The tears had finally stopped flowing, at least. Suddenly, the elevator opened, breaking the silence and Steve stumbled out, followed by Thor and Clint.

"Thor, I don't have any Pop-tarts and they won't help Tony feel better. I don't even think he likes Pop-tarts!" Steve huffed and upon seeing the two ladies staring at him, he cleared his throat and regained composure, nodding to the two ladies respectfully.

Pepper jumped up off the couch.

"Is he okay?"

Natasha stood up next to her, ready to console her at any moment. To Natasha and Pepper's relief, Steve nodded, although gravely and Pepper let out a shaky sob.

"Thank God." She whispered, and tears freely flowed down her face, a smile now forming at her lips.

"Bruce has stabilized him for now, although he still has not woken up. He said you can go see him if you wish." Steve said.

Pepper nodded and turned to her friend.

"Do you want to come with me?" she asked. Natasha smiled. She knew Pepper was only offering not to be rude. She wanted to be with Tony alone. So Natasha shook her head.

"Go on ahead. Tony needs you more than he needs me."

The blonde nodded and wiped away some tears as she got into the elevator. The metal doors closed softly and the whirring of the mechanics filled the quiet room.

Thor's voice broke the comfortable silence.

"Where does the man of Iron store his Pop-tarts?"

Everyone collectively rolled their eyes.

Pepper was overjoyed that Tony was going to be okay. She felt almost guilty for doubting Bruce, but she decided not to dwell on that; she'd just be sure to give him more credit in the future. When the metal doors opened, she immediately spotted the bed where Tony lay, surrounded by Bruce, Fury, and various electronic devices making those annoying beeping sounds generally reserved for hospitals. Pepper strode across the room, greeting the two men who had helped save Tony's life, but all the while watching the man she loved as he still obviously fought for his fragile life.

"Is he going to be okay?" She asked wanting more reassurance, for the sight of Tony attached to those machines frightened her slightly.

"Yes, he just needs rest and antibiotics." Bruce said with a gentle smile. He could tell she was distraught and tried to be the stereotypical reassuring doctor one would see on a daytime soap opera for her sake.

"Tony will probably be off his feet for quite a few days. The infection in his chest got a bit out of hand, but we have it under control now."

"I'll never be able to thank you enough."

"You don't have to."

They were interrupted by a quiet moan from the bed. Tony was stirring at last. Pepper raced to his side.

"Tony!" She said.

Tony reached up with his hand to the stitches on his forehead and scrunched his eyes up. He blinked a few times before finally opening his eyes.

"God, I feel like I was hit by a train in the chest. Bruce, did you attempt surgery on me again?" He asked groggily, lightly touching the stitches.

"How do you feel Tony?" Pepper asked as she took his hand in hers.

"Like I was hit by a train. Tell Bruce I want some morphine."

"I can hear you Tony. I can't give you any morphine." Bruce said with amusement in his voice.

"Aww, come on. I almost die and I can't even have some painkillers. You're a horrible doctor."

"You've had head trauma and hypotension. I don't want to risk any complications."

In that moment, Tony suddenly seemed to notice the oxygen tubes in his nose.

"What the hell?" He started pulling them out and Pepper wrestled them from his hands.

"Tony! Stop it!"

He looked her in the eyes. Her lips were dangerously close to his, and he yearned to touch them with a gentle kiss. Tony came very close to it, too, her warm breath on his face, but then he took notice of her disheveled appearance.

"Pepper." He whispered gently, his fingers brushing her cheek. "Have you been crying?"

"No." She lied.

"Why were you crying?"

"I wasn't crying." She demanded quietly. "I…I wasn't…" A tear dripped down her face and Tony continued to stare earnestly into her eyes as he wiped it away with his thumb.

"I'm sorry." She sniffed.

"No, I'm sorry." Tony said. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have gone out. Please stop crying."

Pepper nodded and he pulled her into a much anticipated kiss. Tony thought it tasted of tears. Meanwhile, Bruce and Fury stood awkwardly, avoiding watching the happy couple by busying themselves with the equipment lying on nearby tables and the two exchanged a knowing smirk as the beeping from Tony's heart monitor took off.

**(I totally ship Pepperony:P)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Here's the next one! Hope you like it:) And thank you for all the wonderful reviews:)  
**

Bruce opened his eyes, momentarily disoriented as to where he was. Then everything came flooding back. He was still in the infirmary, asleep on a chair, keeping watch on Tony during the night. There were only two dim yellow lights on the wall behind Tony's bed, casting a faint and admittedly cozy glow on the room. Way in the back, everything was almost completely dark, but over by this wall everything was encased in a bubble of warmth; the only sounds in the room consisting of the quiet hissing of the oxygen tank and beeping of the heart monitor. Bruce sat up straight to see how Tony was doing and smiled. He was in good hands. Curled up next to him on the white sheets was Pepper, her head in the crook of his arm, hand over his chest. His hand came up to meet hers and the two looked cozier than Bruce had ever seen. He quietly tiptoed over beside the bed and changed out the almost empty saline drip for a new one without waking either of them.

"JARVIS." He whispered. "Show me his blood pressure and temperature, please."

A screen appeared, suspended in the air, showing Bruce that Tony's blood pressure was 112/73 and temperature was 101.2.

"Thank you JARVIS."

Tony was responding well to the treatment. His blood pressure was finally stabilized, and his temperature was dropping steadily. It looked like Bruce wasn't going to have to perform surgery after all. Honestly, he was extremely relieved. He stood back with his hands on his hips and shook his head at the two. It was adorable. But Pepper looked kind of cold. She didn't have a blanket; she was lying on top of all Tony's. So Bruce did what any doctor would do and fetched a soft blanket from one of the cabinets nearby, unfolding it and draping it gently over the pair. The light from the arc reactor barely shone through the soft fabric and neither of the two stirred from the movement at all. Satisfied that his duties had been fulfilled, Bruce retreated back to his chair and closed his eyes. He'd been sleeping in a chair quite a bit these past few days and was honestly starting to get used to it.

Tony woke up early, first becoming aware of the pain in his chest. It wasn't as bad as it had been, but it still hurt quite a bit, making it difficult for him to get a comfortable deep breath. Damn Bruce and his reluctance for giving out pain medication. When Tony looked down, curious to see what was lying on his shoulder, he felt a familiar twinge in what he guessed was his heart at the sight of Pepper's peaceful expression. He tried to pull his hand out of hers to tuck the hair that had fallen into her face back into place, but her grip became tighter and he settled for watching her sleep as she was, savoring her body heat. He could tell he still had a bit of a fever because of the familiar chills he felt shivering up and down his back, and he craved her warmth; both the affection and the physical kind.

"Morning Tony." Bruce's voice came from his right. Tony looked up.

"Don't sneak up on me like that, I almost jumped! And whisper please!"

"Afraid you'll wake her?"

Bruce smirked at Tony.

"Shut up."

This only made the smirk wider. Tony narrowed his eyes.

"You're an awful doctor. I want some pain medicine. Preferably the kind that will help with a fever."

"Are you finally admitting you're sick?"

"No. It's an infection. I'm not sick."

Bruce rolled his eyes. Tony was definitely feeling better.

"Whatever. I'll give you some acetaminophen. Just hold tight."

He headed into the back room. Tony started to feel a bit uncomfortable and although he felt guilty for doing so at the expense of Pepper's slumber, he shifted, sitting up some. She woke up quickly with a deep breath and sat up, letting Tony move.

"Sorry for waking you." He said, finally tucking the loose hair from Pepper's face behind her ear and then wincing as his chest flared in pain. "God Bruce, hurry up!" He shouted.

"Are you okay?" She asked worriedly, watching Tony as he held his hand to his chest.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. Bruce has just been withholding the pain meds."

"Stop being such a baby, Tony. Here's your drugs." Bruce handed Tony two white pills and a cup of water.

"It's about time!" He swallowed them both at once in record time, draining the cup of water just as fast.

"JARVIS, stats please?"

"Sir's temperature is 101, blood pressure normal and stabilized. There is no immediate danger, although sir's pain levels are quite high according to the EKG and oxygen saturation."

Bruce eyed his patient.

"Can you take a deep breath easily?"

"Yeah." Tony said quickly.

"Then do it."

"What for?"

"Because I'm the doctor, and I said so."

Tony looked defiant but complied, and took a deep breath. He immediately started to cough, the pain preventing him from taking a good breath, and he groaned as the coughing made the pain worse. He peered upwards at Bruce, his teeth gritted.

"Happy now?"

"Not really." Bruce frowned. He wished he could give Tony something stronger, but he was still reluctant to do so.

"I'm kind of hungry, am I allowed to have food, 'doctor'?" Tony said sarcastically.

"Sure, but nothing too heavy. I can get you some toast and juice."

"I want a pop-tart."

"A pop-tart? Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. There's some strawberry ones upstairs."

"Okay. I'll be right back."

Bruce turned to the elevator and when he was gone, Tony got up, pulling his IV pole alongside him.

"Tony what are you doing?"

"Looking for some good food. I've got a stash somewhere around here. You can have the pop-tart if you want."

He began searching through some of the cabinets.

"But Tony, I'm allergic to strawberries."

He stopped and turned around.

"Everyone knows the so-called 'fruit' in pop-tarts are about as synthetic as para-aramid fibre."

"What the hell is a para-whatever you just said?"

"It's Kevlar. A synthetic polymer like the fruit in pop-tarts."

She sighed and closed the cabinet he was messing with.

"Go back to bed. You asked for the pop-tart, you better eat it. Bruce saved your life. Don't take him for granted."

"I wasn't taking him for granted; I just don't want a boring breakfast."

"I don't care. Just please Tony, be a good patient."

He huffed, but seemed to give up.

"I'll be good. But do I have to like it?"

"Of course not. But act like it."

He lay back down on the bed and Pepper pulled the blanket over him.

"Now pretend you like the pop-tart."

"Whatever."


	12. Chapter 12

**I apologize for taking so long to update, I've been a busy person this week! Just so you know, the next chapter will probably be the last and a sort of epilogue thing:,( *tear* I can't believe I was able to write so much for this story like I did! But don't lose hope, I've been cooking up some more sick Tony fics, and perhaps I will make another sequel or totally different story! If anyone has any ideas for a sick Tony fic they'd like to read, feel free to inbox me and I might just decide to write it for my next fic:) Thanks for all the wonderful reviews and faithful readers, I truly appreciate it! xoxo Nutella1234**

Upstairs, Bruce found Thor on the couch, a box of pop-tarts in hand with wrappers everywhere as Steve, Clint, and Natasha looked on with disgust on their faces.

"How can you eat so many of those things?" Natasha asked. "Seriously, they will give you a heart attack."

"Is that box empty?" Bruce piped up. Everyone turned to him.

"I would bet on it." Clint said. "He's been at it for a while."

"There is but one left!" Thor boomed, holding up the little packet. "Would you like to have it as a gift?"

"Thanks, Thor, I would. Tony demanded I get him a pop-tart for breakfast." Bruce said, taking the last pack from Thor's large hands.

"The man of Iron is awake? How is he?" Thor asked.

"He's doing really well, according to his attitude. Still has a rude thing to say every other sentence."

Natasha laughed.

"Does he even like pop-tarts?" She asked.

Bruce smiled and opened up the packet, grabbing one of the two pop-tarts and taking a bite from it.

"Nope. I think he just wanted some alone time with Pepper." He winked. "Where's Fury at?"

"He will be back later; he said there's still some construction going on with the helicarrier he needed to oversee."

"Ah, alright. Mind if I sit up here for a little while? Don't want to barge in on those two, and to be honest, I need a break."

"Go right on ahead." Clint said. Bruce sat down for a chat, finished the pop-tart, and wrapped the other one up for Tony.

"Bruce is taking forever. What's it been, like, fifteen minutes?" Tony said. "Maybe he's giving us some alone time?" He waggled his eyebrows and Pepper rolled her eyes.

"He's probably fed up with dealing with you, that's what."

"How can anyone get fed up with me?"

"Believe me, it's easier than it seems." Pepper said jokingly.

"Are you fed up with me?" Tony asked.

"Is that even a question?"

"It's a pretty good one."

"Well, then, if you think that's a good question, you need to sort out your priorities." She sat down next to him on the bed.

"You're my priority."

Caught by surprise, Pepper blushed furiously.

"Am I?"

He took her hand gently and pulled her closer.

"I'm not sure if it was a dream."

Pepper frowned.

"What was a dream?"

"You were crying."

"What are you talking about?"

She started to pull away, but he stopped her; pulled her closer. She could feel his gentle breath grazing her cheeks and her hair began to drop from behind her ears and down around his face.

"I remember. On the roof, you were crying and I heard you say something."

The memory dawned on her; she recalled what she had said, she said she loved him, sure that in his unconscious state he could not hear her.

"Like what?" She whispered.

"Like this."

He pulled her into a kiss, and they melded together. Pepper drew closer, wanting more of him, wrapping her arms around the back of his neck, her fingers running through his short hair. Tony gently ended the kiss and touched noses, their eyes meeting, lips barely brushing each other.

"Say it again." He said. "I want to be conscious this time."

"I lo-"

Suddenly the door to the elevator opened, and Bruce walked in. He instantly shielded his eyes with the pop-tart.

"Whoa, whoa! Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt anything." He shouted as Pepper jumped off the bed in shock.

"You need to learn how to knock!" Tony said, sitting upright while gripping his chest.

"Sorry, I figured I had given you two ample time to make out or whatever it was you two were doing!" He was on the verge of laughing. Both of them looked frazzled; Pepper's hair was a mess, and Tony's face was bright red, his hair sticking up in a few places, although that may have just been from being in bed for such a long time.

"Here's your pop-tart." Bruce handed it over.

"Why is there only one left?" Tony frowned, examining the package.

"I know you don't like pop-tarts. I ate one so you wouldn't have too."

"Oh how very kind of you." Tony said sarcastically. He started to give the pop-tart to Pepper, but the look on her face made him pull his hand away and he obediently took a bite from it, the flavor of synthetic strawberries filling his mouth.

"Good boy." Bruce said.

"I'm not a dog." Tony said while he chewed distastefully.

"Don't talk when you're eating. It's unbecoming."

Bruce checked the fluid levels in Tony's IV and his monitor.

"Seriously, when did you become my mother?"

"Just eat your pop-tart. Your blood sugar is slightly low from lack of food."

"Well sorry, I've been too unconscious to eat."

In one huge bite, he finished it and tossed the wrapper across the room, aiming for a trash can, and missed.

"Damn. Thought I had that one."

Pepper rolled her eyes.

"How's the pain?" Bruce asked.

"Bearable." Tony muttered.

"Let me see the arc reactor. I want to make sure the redness is going away, which would be a sign the inflammation is as well."

Tony rolled his eyes, but did as he was told and started to carefully take off his shirt. It still hurt, but at least it was manageable at the moment. Bruce had him lay back as he examined Tony's chest. It was slightly red and warm to the touch, but Bruce could tell the inflammation was going down. Tony would probably be back on his feet in about three days.

"You're doing a lot better. Put your shirt back on."

Tony did as he was told.

"I'd say that in about two weeks you'll be well enough to use the iron man suit again. But I wouldn't push it. Your body needs time to heal before you go back to being a reckless idiot."

"Two weeks? That's a long time!"

"Oh well, you're just going to have to deal with it."

"Just deal with it?"

"Exactly. Don't want to make Pepper cry again, do you?"

Tony got quiet and Pepper blushed, avoiding eye contact.

"You're mean." was the only retort Tony could think of.


	13. Chapter 13

**Here's the last short bit of the story. It's not much, and honestly I was half asleep writing this but it's the end and I hope you like it! Thanks for reading and I hope you loved reading this story as much as I loved writing it! xoxo Nutella1234**

It was a few weeks before Tony got back to himself completely, and once he got better, everything returned back to normal. He was his usual snarky self, and him and Pepper continued to hit it off. Five months later, Tony was back in his workshop, fixing up a new computer chip for the ironman suit.

"Bruce, can you hand me that screwdriver?" He asked, motioning towards the screwdriver lying on the table next to his friend.

"Sure." Bruce got up and took it over to Tony who grabbed it with a distracted 'thanks' and instantly went to work on the chip. In a few moments, Tony put the chip and the screwdriver down on the table and leaned back with a sigh.

"Finally, I'm done!"

Bruce had stood, observing him for a moment.

"That's great. Sure did take you long enough."

"Hey, it takes time to be a genius."

"Yeah, whatever." Bruce chuckled. "Should we go up to get something to eat?"

"Sounds great. Lets go." Tony proceeded to get up from the chair and upon standing up, he stopped for a moment, hand on the table.

"You okay?" Bruce asked.

Tony nodded.

"Just tired."

"Are you sure? You're looking kind of flushed."

"Bruce, seriously? I just got better, I can't be sick again!"

Bruce raised an eyebrow.

"That was five months ago and anyways, Pepper was sick a few days ago and I saw you two kissing."

"Why were you spying on us?"

"JARVIS. Temperature, please."

"Sir's temperature is 102.1."

Tony cut Bruce a glare. Bruce smirked.

"Fine. I'm sick. I'll go to bed." Tony tossed his hands up in exasperation and Bruce watched as Tony walked out of the room.

"He finally admitted he was sick. And it only took him five months."

He shook his head and went back to his work.


End file.
